Plan to revitalize U of T building in motion

The FitzGerald building is located on the St. George campus at 150 College Street.

On
February 28, the Governing Council submitted their final approval for the
FitzGerald Building Revitalization project. Since March 2017, the university
has explored the possible revitalization of the building and began the approval
process in January 2019.

The FitzGerald building,
located on the St. George campus at 150 College Street, was built in 1927 and
is listed under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The Faculty of Medicine
and the Faculty of Dentistry had previously been using the building for
wet-laboratory research and faculty space, but due to the lack of
infrastructure upgrades, the building has deteriorated. In July 2018, the
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry were both relocated to renovated buildings on
campus, leaving the FitzGerald building vacant.

According to the Project
Planning Committee for the FitzGerald Building Revitalization, “The University
envisions that the Fitzgerald Building will be exemplar in adaptive re-use and
set a precedent for progressive campus work environments. The primary goal is
the creation of a modern, flexible, collaborative office environment, where the
quality of space results from the acknowledgement and accommodation of an
evolving ‘me’ to ‘we’ workplace culture.”

The committee proposes a
“neighborhood-type plan” that opts for open workstations over offices to
encourage a collaborative workplace. The building will host the following
central administration groups: Division of Advancement, Advancement
Communication Marketing, Governing Council – Internal Audit, Human Resources
& Audit, Office of the President – Finance Division, University of Toronto
Communications, Ancillary Services, Parking & Transportation, and Planning
& Budget.

“The housing of various
central administration functions together under one roof will help create
synergies and efficiencies to best serve the academic needs of the university,”
said the Project Planning Committee in the Report of the Project Planning
Committee for FitzGerald Revitalization, dated November 23, 2018.

The Committee also proposed three main changes to promote
collaboration, including an addition to the south roof to provide access to the
fourth-floor’s east wing.

The Committee likewise proposed a new rooftop
terrace facing the CCBR forecourt to serve as a “building-wide amenity,” and an
atrium to fill the south courtyard “E” shape and encourage cross-collaboration
between administrative departments. The proposed atrium would also provide a
second accessibility entrance to the building. The Committee also proposed the
South entrance become the new front entrance in order to “improve the
building’s urban relationship to College street.” The proposed new entrance
encourages “pedestrian connections with Pharmacy and the CCBR forecourt while
also enhancing the landscape with trees, plantings, site furniture and
lighting.”

The
Committee emphasized that “the proposed alterations will conserve the vast
majority of the building’s significant exterior architectural elements, with
only minor alterations to the identified heritage attributes. The impacts are
mitigated overall by the renewal of a protected heritage property for continued
academic/administrative use, with a sensitively–designed renovation exemplary
in sustainability and energy efficiency.”

Following
the Governing Council’s approval on February 28th, the Demolition and Hazardous
Waste Removal stage of the project began and will be completed approximately by
the end of March. The Construction stage is then scheduled to start by May. The
FitzGerald building is expected to be open by October 2020.